Start Here - Course Information

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to OSU’s Intro to Permaculture Massive Open Online Course! We have created this free course in an effort to share with the world the amazing potential for making positive change that Permaculture has to offer. Over the next four weeks we will be virtually traveling all over the planet to look at how Permaculture has been applied at different scales and climate types. In the time it takes to complete this course, we are striving to stimulate your appetite to learn much more about Permaculture, and are providing resources worldwide where you can connect to Permaculture organizations and education.

This course will be taught using video, animations, readings, discussions, interactive activities, and lots of satellite imagery to look at landscapes and projects. We welcome you to participate in full, or just observe the content without interacting or participating, whatever works for you! This is our offering, and you can receive it as you choose.

Thanks for joining us and we look forward to working with you!

Download Intro to Permaculture Course Overview Video Transcript

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Define the Permaculture design system, its ethics and principles
  • Organize the order of the Permaculture design process
  • Diagram Elements of watershed, sector, zone, and design maps
  • Identify design elements appropriate for each climate

Course Learning Activities & Badge Requirements

This course contains weekly introduction videos, lectures, asynchronous discussions, quizzes, and mapping and design activities (some which involve mapping tools)*

Week 1 - Permaculture Basics

  • Statement of Intent Discussion 
  • Design Site Map Activity  

Week 2 - Permaculture Site Analysis

  • Watershed Basin Map Activity 
  • Sector Map Activity
  • Challenges and Opportunities Discussion

Week 3 - Permaculture Design

  • Permaculture Principles Quiz
  • Zone Map Activity
  • Design Goals Discussion

Week 4 - Permaculture Design for Different Cultures

  • Design Challenge Discussion
  • Final Design Map Activity
  • Portfolio of Map Activities


In terms of time expectations, you should plan to spend approximately 4 hours each week working in the four week course for a total of 16 hours to complete the entire course.

This is a free (no costs for participating) and open online course. There are no admission requirements or prerequisites needed to take this course. While none of the discussions, activities, assignments, or quizzes are required, if you choose to complete all of the discussions, activities, assignments, and quizzes you can earn your "Intro to Permaculture" digital badge from Oregon State University. You can display your digital badge on social media platforms, etc. 

For more information on the digital badge, visit the Badges page.

Anyone with an "Intro to Permaculture" badge from OSU will receive a 10% discount on the full Permaculture Design Certificate Online Links to an external site. course with OSU's Professional and Continuing Education Links to an external site.! Badge recipients will receive more information on this when the badge is issued.

Please carefully review the course syllabus below.

Download Intro_to_Permaculture_Syllabus.pdf

*This course contains special media/interactive content (mapping tools) that are designed to be accessed from a desktop. While it is not required to use these tools to complete this course or to receive a digital badge (the use of mapping tools are optional), these mapping tools are NOT optimized for mobile devices, so please plan accordingly. Google Chrome is the preferred browser to use for the mapping tools, avoid using Safari if at all possible.

Instructor Information & Course Communication

Andrew Millison is the instructor for this course. To learn more about Andrew's background and work, view his Canvas Network Profile and visit the Instructor Information page.

As a participant in this course, you can expect the course instructor to post announcements and weekly introduction videos. There is also a teaching assistant (TA) who will go through discussion questions and select themes for the instructor to address weekly as announcements. There are also two guest speakers, both in Week #4. The soils lecture is given by Oregon State's own Jacob Kollen, a Mater's Degree recipient in Soil Science and Hydrology. The "Where to from Here?" lecture in Week #4 is given by Canadian designer and teacher Javan Bernakevitch, of B.C.Permaculture.

Questions? If you have a question regarding Canvas features, first consult the Start Here - Canvas User Orientation page. If you have a question that isn't addressed by the provided Canvas tutorials and guides, post your question in the Start Here - Help Forum. For questions on course content, post in the weekly "Content Discussion" boards.